Woodbridge (VA) Senior defensive end Da’Shawn Hand
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Wayne (NJ) St. Joseph athlete Kiy Hester decommitted from Rutgers. Hester had committed to the Scarlet Knights back in late June, but now the program has suffered from four decommitments in recent weeks. Hester now appears to be looking at Arkansas, Michigan State, and Vanderbilt as possible landing spots.
Jacksonville (FL) Raines cornerback Lamont Simmons decommitted from Rutgers. Simmons was offered by USC approximately a week prior to his decommitment, so he may be setting himself up to commit to the Trojans.
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Wake Forest (NC) Rolesville defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 300 lb. prospect with offers from Arkansas, Clemson, Florida, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and South Carolina; the Gators appear to be the leaders. He looks more like an offensive lineman to me, but he’s fairly athletic for his size and could be a clogger on the defensive line, too.
OFF THE BOARD
St. Louis (MO) DeSmet offensive tackle Andy Bauer recommitted to Missouri. Yes, he was once committed to the Tigers, then flipped to Ole Miss, then chose the Tigers again. He appears to be angling for the Class of 2014 Jordan Payton Award.
Dallas (TX) Bishop Dunne cornerback Nick Watkins committed to Notre Dame. Watkins was a kid who had early high interest in Michigan, but as time went on, the interest seemed to become less and less reciprocated from Michigan.
MISCELLANEOUS Woodbridge (VA) Senior defensive end Da’Shawn Hand will be making his college choice today, which is his birthday. The other two schools in the running are Alabama and Florida, but there are a lot of Michigan “insiders” feeling good about Hand choosing the Wolverines. Here’s a scouting report I did on Hand after his junior year.
I haven’t posted one of these updates in a while because, well, not a whole lot has been going on in the recruiting world. So here’s an update that covers the last month and a half.
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Belmont (NC) South Point linebacker Tanner Muse was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 207 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, Michigan, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northwestern, and Virginia, among others. He looks like he could play either SAM or MIKE for the Wolverines if he commits down the road. He’s a very athletic kid who has plenty of room to fill out.
Philadelphia (PA) St. Joseph’s Prep cornerback John Reid was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’10”, 170 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona, Miami, Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers, and West Virginia, among others. 247 Sports’ Composite ranking places him as a 4-star, the #9 cornerback, and the #93 player overall. Reid is the teammate of offensive tackle commit Jon Runyan, Jr.
OFF THE BOARD
Phoenix (AZ) Mountain Pointe wide receiver Jalen Brown committed to Oregon on October 7. Brown visited Michigan over the summer, but Michigan’s coaches kind of slow-played him and didn’t give him the red carpet treatment. He left Ann Arbor feeling like they had other guys ahead of him on their list, so there was never really a shot of him committing to the Wolverines. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Arizona during his junior season.
Tampa (FL) Jefferson linebacker Juwuan Brown committed to South Florida all the way back in July, but it slipped past me. It’s unclear whether he actually had an offer from Michigan at any time, but he wanted to stay close to home, anyway.
Arlington (TX) Martin defensive end Myles Garrett committed to Texas A&M on October 18. Garrett is slated to play in the Under Armour All-America game and is 247 Sports’ Composite ranking’s #16 player overall. He attends the alma mater of injured Michigan quarterback Russell Bellomy.
Fort Lauderdale (FL) American Heritage wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie committed to Notre Dame on October 19. Or he didn’t. There are mixed reports. Either way, he’s expected to commit to Notre Dame if he hasn’t already.
El Cerrito (CA) El Cerrito cornerback Adarius Pickett committed to UCLA on September 3. 247 Sports’ prognosticators picked him 100% for USC, but that didn’t pan out so well. He never showed much interest in his Michigan offer.
Jacksonville (FL) Raines cornerback Lamont Simmons committed to Rutgers. Simmons stayed off the radar and is the country’s #967 player overall, according to 247’s Composite ranking.
Englewood (NJ) Dwight Morrow wide receiver Juwann Winfree committed to Maryland on September 27. Winfree mentioned several times that he had high interest in Michigan, but a visit never transpired. On a side note, Dwight Morrow was an American ambassador to Mexico during the Coolidge administration. You’re welcome.
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Jacksonville (FL) Raines cornerback Lamont Simmons was offered by Michigan. Simmons is a 6’2″, 185 lb. corner with offers from Arkansas, Georgia, and Wisconsin, among others. I can’t find much information about him, so feel free to comment with any insight you can.
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Bamberg (SC) Erhardt defensive end LaSamuel Davis was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 205 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, and USC, among others. Michigan has pursued several guys out of Erhardt in recent years (2014 ATH Kevin Crosby, 2012 DE Martin Aiken, 2011 RB Demetrius Williams), but so far the pursuit has been unsuccessful.
Jacksonville (FL) Trinity Christian linebacker Jeff Holland has been offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 230 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State, and lots of others. According to 247 Sports – the only service to release rankings for 2015 prospects – Holland is the #17 overall player and #1 linebacker in the nation. Michigan also recruited 2011 RB Andrew Buie (West Virginia) and 2010 S Rashad Knight (Rutgers) out of Trinity Christian, but those offers were from the Rich Rodriguez era.
Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco quarterback Josh Rosen was offered by Michigan. Rosen is a 6’4″, 200 lb. passer who claims a 4.55 forty. As a sophomore in 2012, he had 2,087 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, and 352 rushing yards, which has earned him offers from Oregon State, Tennessee, and a few other schools so far. 247 Sports has ranked him as the #2 pro-style quarterback and the #5 overall player in the nation. He is thought to favor some West Coast, Pac-12 schools, so Michigan will be in an uphill battle to capture his commitment. That may be the reason why the Wolverines went ahead and offered him, despite the fact that they offered 2014 quarterback commit Wilton Speight on National Signing Day 2013. Previously, La Mirada (CA) La Mirada’s Kevin Dillman was presumed to be Michigan’s top target at the position, and he may well be offered if Rosen ends up committing to Cal or Stanford.
Jacksonville (FL) Trinity Christian cornerback Kevin Toliver II was also offered by Michigan. The teammate of Holland, he’s a 6’2″, 183 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, and lots of others . . . including LSU, to which he’s already committed. 247 Sports ranks him as the #1 cornerback and #33 overall player in the country.
Dallas (TX) Skyline linebacker Anthony Wheeler was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 225 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan State, Texas, and Texas Tech, among others. Texas is thought to be the leader, although he’s giving other schools a chance. I believe Wheeler will end up as a weakside end because he’s a little too stiff and slow to play linebacker at the next level.
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Fort Lauderdale (FL) University School wide receiver Sam Bruce was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’8″, 160 lb. prospect with offers from Arkansas, Clemson, and USC, among others. His uncle is former St. Louis Rams wide receiver Isaac Bruce, who played his college ball at Memphis State; I think it’s safe to say that Sam won’t be following in his uncle’s footsteps when it comes to picking a college. Michigan has really hit the University School hard with offers lately, going after 2013 WR Jordan Cunningham (Vanderbilt) and DT Maquedius Bain (LSU). Bruce is a speedy pinball of a player who could end up as a wideout, corner, nickel corner, or returner at the next level.
Downers Grove (IL) South offensive tackle Erik Swenson was offered by Michigan. Swenson was on my 2016 list for a long time, but I removed him several weeks ago because there was some question about whether his offer was “official” or not (even though officially official offers can’t be extended until the August prior to his senior year). Now his unofficially official offer has been confirmed, so I’m adding him to the list again. Swenson seems very interested in Michigan, and it probably wouldn’t be a stretch to position the Wolverines as his #1 choice. However, he also has offers from Illinois, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, and lots more are sure to come. The 6’6″, 280 lb. prospect already has great size, pretty good feet, and solid technique, and he’s just a rising sophomore.
OFF THE BOARD
Akron (OH) St. Vincent-St. Mary’s linebacker Dante Booker, Jr. committed to Ohio State. He was always considered to be an Ohio State lean but was very quiet about his recruitment. This might open the door a little bit for Clairton (PA) Thomas Jefferson linebacker Chase Winovich to commit to Michigan over Ohio State, but the last time I made a similar statement (when Sam Hubbard picked the Buckeyes), Kyle Berger went ahead and chose them, too. I guess they’re all in a race to be the next Andy Katzenmoyer.
